1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a modular housing system, and particularly to a modular housing system which forms its own shipping container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many regions of the world, such as certain areas in the middle east, that have need for housing units in substantial numbers, but lack not only the requisite raw materials for constructing housing, but also the labor skills to perform conventional on-site construction. Accordingly, a great demand has developed for inexpensive, yet substantial, prefabricated housing that can be shipped from manufacturing points in developed areas to semi-developed and un-developed areas where the housing units are needed.
It is known to construct prefabricated habitable structures which collapse in some manner during transport. Examples of such known habitable structures can be found in U.S. Pat. No.: 2,780,844, issued Feb. 12, 1957, to H. C. Bolt; U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,386, issued Mar. 6, 1973, to R. Puckett et al; U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,765, issued Nov. 6, 1973, to M. E. Wright; U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,811, issued Sept. 3, 1974, to E. M. Briel, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,600, issued Sept. 17, 1974, to A. H. Padula et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,631, issued Mar. 25, 1975, to W. M. Nowell. While these known collapsible prefabricated structures function well when towed or carried across modern highways, and the like, they are not necessarily intended to be shipped by marine transport across oceans without being provided with some sort of external protection.
It is generally known to containerize various modules to be used for constructing dwellings so that the modules are arranged within the area of a standard shipping container. By a standard shipping container is meant those conforming to the well-known ISO standards, and the like. An example of said a containerized module system can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,792,558, issued Feb. 19, 1974, to J. Berce et al. This known arrangement, however, provides only for putting modules into separate, specially configured hulls attached to a framework substantially in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped. Thus, several containers must be employed to ship all of the modules required for a single housing unit, and various elements of the unit, such as bathroom and kitchen fixtures, must be mounted in the housing unit at the erection site.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,994, issued Aug. 26, 1975, to C. Van der Lely, shows a prefabricated multi-story building made up of a plurality of boxshaped sections. Once again, however, each of these sections must be shipped separately, thus requiring a large number of separate shipments.